Hello! I’m new and am really open to the idea that, although I had structural issues, my secondary, lasting pain has been caused by TMS. My background-- in my late thirties, I was in really good shape, but had scoliosis that was worsening I decided to undergo a 7-level fusion 3 years ago.
After the surgery I had an acute nerve pain on my right side, but knew that nerves sometimes took a long time to heal after big surgeries so I just tried to be patient. My nerve pain was near my spine and caused me great difficulty sitting. It prevented me from doing much of the exercises I had really found to be helpful and enjoyable before my surgery. I slowly improved a bit each year, but a few weeks ago, I decided to had a second surgery to remove some of the hardware from my back. My hope was that if I could get rid of that nerve pain, I could finally return to exercise and treat the secondary hip issues. The surgery went well and the recovery has been going well.
So for my secondary issues –these include a painful snapping hip on the right side and psoas problems-a lot of glute/hip pain made worse by sitting on soft chairs or doing certain exercises. No matter what I tried (after first surgery) I could not return to my level of activity before the surgery.
For the past three years, although I kept the ideas of TMS and MBS in the back of my head, and read a lot on mind-body connections, I felt compelled to explore all possible structural problems that were going on as I knew that it wasn’t uncommon to go through pain in recovery. Some of my issues didn’t fit with TMS necessarily, but others definitely do. I had a painful childhood, my mom had MS and died when I was an adolescent and I’m a sensitive person in general. But I’ve been in therapy for years and the past month I’ve gotten back to journaling. As my therapist and I joked in terms of repressed emotions, there’s not too much more lurking in the attic. I think it’s more a “fear of pain” issue at this point.
After my first surgery I think I returned to physical activity too soon and it caused major pain which in turn made me fearful and more stressed, etc. I attempted to go back to activity in different ways—at first in a work through the pain and “pretend nothing is wrong” way and I felt like I kept reinjuring myself and it kept setting me back. Then I tried baby steps which were more successful. But ultimately I just kept plateauing.
So my question -- I feel that removing some of my hardware was a good idea and am eager to rebuild my body and life, but what can I expect as I try? I’ve read that snapping hip and psoas problems can be MBS because they are essentially tension issues. Im working on reducing stress, but I know it will always be around in some form or another as it’s just how I’m wired. I guess I just don’t want to be in the same situation I’ve been for three years where I’m going in circles and flaring my self up each time I kick it up a notch. Part of that could have been the hardware in my back, but I believe, too, MBS has played a role. And I guess I just want to become active again without a big setback. Hope that makes sense! And if you made it this far, thanks for reading this, I know it was long.
After the surgery I had an acute nerve pain on my right side, but knew that nerves sometimes took a long time to heal after big surgeries so I just tried to be patient. My nerve pain was near my spine and caused me great difficulty sitting. It prevented me from doing much of the exercises I had really found to be helpful and enjoyable before my surgery. I slowly improved a bit each year, but a few weeks ago, I decided to had a second surgery to remove some of the hardware from my back. My hope was that if I could get rid of that nerve pain, I could finally return to exercise and treat the secondary hip issues. The surgery went well and the recovery has been going well.
So for my secondary issues –these include a painful snapping hip on the right side and psoas problems-a lot of glute/hip pain made worse by sitting on soft chairs or doing certain exercises. No matter what I tried (after first surgery) I could not return to my level of activity before the surgery.
For the past three years, although I kept the ideas of TMS and MBS in the back of my head, and read a lot on mind-body connections, I felt compelled to explore all possible structural problems that were going on as I knew that it wasn’t uncommon to go through pain in recovery. Some of my issues didn’t fit with TMS necessarily, but others definitely do. I had a painful childhood, my mom had MS and died when I was an adolescent and I’m a sensitive person in general. But I’ve been in therapy for years and the past month I’ve gotten back to journaling. As my therapist and I joked in terms of repressed emotions, there’s not too much more lurking in the attic. I think it’s more a “fear of pain” issue at this point.
After my first surgery I think I returned to physical activity too soon and it caused major pain which in turn made me fearful and more stressed, etc. I attempted to go back to activity in different ways—at first in a work through the pain and “pretend nothing is wrong” way and I felt like I kept reinjuring myself and it kept setting me back. Then I tried baby steps which were more successful. But ultimately I just kept plateauing.
So my question -- I feel that removing some of my hardware was a good idea and am eager to rebuild my body and life, but what can I expect as I try? I’ve read that snapping hip and psoas problems can be MBS because they are essentially tension issues. Im working on reducing stress, but I know it will always be around in some form or another as it’s just how I’m wired. I guess I just don’t want to be in the same situation I’ve been for three years where I’m going in circles and flaring my self up each time I kick it up a notch. Part of that could have been the hardware in my back, but I believe, too, MBS has played a role. And I guess I just want to become active again without a big setback. Hope that makes sense! And if you made it this far, thanks for reading this, I know it was long.
